Rushed to the Altar Read Online Free PDF Page B

Jasper shook his head. “It never occurred to me, foolish lad that I was, that a lady of the night couldn’t afford to let her emotions confuse the transaction.”
    “And you’ve avoided such ladies ever since, as I understand it.” She lifted an eyebrow.
    “I prefer these arrangements to be exclusive,” he agreed. “And that, my dear Nan, brings me to the point of this visit . . . not, of course, that your company alone isn’t incentive enough.”
    She laughed. “Such pretty words, m’dear; you always did have a smooth tongue, even as a stripling.” She reached for the decanter beside her and refilled their glasses. “So, to the point.”
    “I came across one of your young ladies in the Piazza a short while ago.”
    “Oh?” Her eyes narrowed. “I wasn’t aware anyone had left the house thus far today. For the most part they’re either still abed getting their beauty sleep or preparing themselves for the evening. Only Anna and Marianna are entertaining in the salon.”
    “This is a rather unusual young lady,” Jasper said slowly, taking a sip of his wine. “Rather plainly dressed,but far from a plain countenance. By the name of Clarissa, I believe.”
    Nan Griffiths’s face was abruptly swept clear of all expression, something Jasper remembered from the past. When it came to discussing and negotiating business, Nan Griffiths had the ability of the most gifted gamester to conceal her thoughts.
    “Clarissa,” she murmured. “Yes . . . very fresh . . . a newcomer . . . a country girl.”
    “So she said.”
    “You spoke with her at length?”
    “I tried to, but something I said offended her.” He glanced ruefully at his hand. An ugly bruise was developing around the two tiny pinpricks of the oyster fork. “I’m not sure whether it was
what
I said, or the manner in which I said it. Either way, she reacted somewhat vehemently. I had been intending to make her a proposition but she ran from me before I could begin. I followed her here.”
    “Did she . . . did she say she worked here?”
    He shook his head. “Not in so many words, but as I said I followed her. I saw her come in and assumed . . . unless . . .” He stopped, frowning. “Is she in domestic service . . . a maidservant?”
    “No . . . no, not that.” Nan tapped her painted fingernails against the wooden arm of her chair. “You wished to make her a proposition . . . what kind of a proposition?”
    “I would prefer to make that directly to Clarissa,” hesaid. “Forgive me, Nan, but it’s a rather delicate matter. I would, of course, pay your usual commission.”
    “And her services would be exclusively yours.”
    He nodded. “Without question.”
    Nan rose to her feet. “If you’ll excuse me for a few minutes, Jasper.” She sailed from the room, her loose train flowing behind her. She went upstairs and into the small chamber that served as her office, closing the door firmly. She sat down at the secretaire and gazed into the middle distance. She had never turned down the opportunity to make money and she didn’t intend to turn down this one. But the girl in the garret was not one of her employees.
    Nan was well aware that that astonishing beauty compounded by a fresh-faced innocence would attract the very highest bidders. It was inevitable, of course, that she would lose the innocence, but there were plenty of sophisticated buyers who would then pay a small fortune for an experienced courtesan with that elegance of form and beauty of countenance. Mistress Clarissa could have a satisfactorily long career if she played her cards right. But Nan had sensed that the girl was not alone in the world, for all the vulnerability of her present position, and natural caution had kept her from attempting to persuade, or coerce, her into the harlot’s life until she had found out more about her.
    But this put a different complexion on things. Jasper St. John Sullivan, fifth Earl of Blackwater, was the kind of protector any girl would be